Black Elk

Jon Metzger

General Info

Year of Published: 2005
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Duration: 00:08:00
Cost: Score and Parts - $48.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

Player 1: Narrator
Player 2: Marimba 1 (5-octave)
Player 3: Marimba 2 (4.3-octave)
Player 4: Xylophone & High Suspended Cymbal & Chimes
Player 5: Vibraphone & Low Suspended Cymbal
Player 6: Crotales & Tambourine
Player 7: Glockenspiel & Snare Drum
Player 8: Timpani & Bongos
Player 9: Tambourine & Suspended Cymbal & Slapstick & Bass Drum & Tom Tom (Medium)
Player 10: 2 Low Tom Toms & Flexatone
Player 11: 2 Low Tom Toms & Ratchet & Triangle & Suspended Cymbal & Tambourine & Tenor Drum
Player 12: 4 Tom Toms & Castanets & Triangle & Frame Drum & Bass Drum

Program Notes

Inspired by the book "Black Elk Speaks" by John Neihardt (an oral history of Black Elk, a Sioux medicine man or Shaman), this dramatic work for 11 percussionists culminates in narrator reciting a passage from the book:

"I looked up at the clouds, and two men were coming there, headfirst like arrows slanting down; and as they came, they sang a sacred song, and the thunder was like drumming. I will sing it for you. The song and the drumming were like this: "Behold, a sacred voice is calling you; all over the sky, a sacred voice is calling."

Recent Performances

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Works for Percussion by this Composer

Percussion Solo Works

Double East - Marimba
Imageries - Vibraphone
Just Ask - Vibraphone
Riversong - Vibraphone
Spiral Passages - Marimba

Percussion Ensemble Works

Batterie Diabolique - 7 to 9 Players
Elephant Walk - 2 Players
Jazz Bis - Vibraphone, 5 Players
On Verchiel's Wings - Vibraphone, 3 Players

With Other Instruments Works

Absence of Color - Percussion Sextet, Narrator
Black Elk - Percussion Ensemble (11), Narrator
Four Flights - Multiple Percussion, Flute
Moral Compass - Percussion Trio, Soprano Voice, Alto Saxophone
Stories - Percussion Quartet, voice, Piano
Zoroastrian Thunder - Percussion Octet, Tenor Saxophone, Guitar, Bass